Tag Archives: Mehsud

The reported death of Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud has created a controversy as conflicting claims emanate from militant sources. Yesterday, one Taliban leader agreed that Mehsud was dead, but today another claimed the leader was alive and kicking and would soon show his face. Of course in the era of drone strikes in which the name, rank and serial number of the person being killed are known to CIA operatives in Virginia. Reports he is still alive might be merely an attempt to prevent defections from the ranks of the Taliban or it could be the drone missiles hit someone else.

Lou Dobbs is demanding the Obama administration present birth certificates of any Taliban leader killed in battle. After all, if the right wing media believed everything President Obama claimed, how would the American people ever learn the truth? Please Mr. Mehsud if you are dead show a valid copy of your birth certificate in order that we might know if the CIA really killed the right person!

During the past several years, American leaders have urged the Pakistan government to seriously engage the Taliban within its borders. A series of Taliban blunders such as invading provinces they promised not to attack and suicide bombings have resulted in the Pakistan army’s new aggressive actions against their enemy. The Pakistan government has placed a bounty on the head of Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Taliban in northwest tribal regions. There are also air strikes which have led to claims that dozens of “militants” have been killed. There is evidence the Pakistan army is employing military strategies borrowed from Americans such as bombing villages in which alleged Taliban leaders are residing.

There is no doubt a significant segment of the Pakistan population has grown weary with Taliban excesses such as suicide bombing. But, military action in itself will not destroy the Taliban or other militants. Pakistan needs a powerful economic development program together with one which creates an effective education system that provides for poor children an opportunity to obtain technological skills leading to good paying jobs. Air strikes help, but schools and jobs are much more effective in defeating the Taliban.

Bounties may gain media attention, but as a Taliban commander told a reporter: “We are like a suicide squad. Mujahideen(holy warriors) do not care about head money. Our mission goes on.” Reading and writing and arithmetic will always out bid bounties.

In the topsy turvy world of Pakistan militant operations it is sometimes difficult to discover exactly who is in charge of what or what the fighting is all about. A tribal leader who defected from the Taliban group led by Baitullah Mehsud because he charged the leader was in secret contact with Israel and the United States has been gunned down in Pakistan. Qari Zainuddin, a 26 year-old rising tribal leader claimed that Mehsud was “an American agent” who was using suicide bombings to destabilize the country. According to Zinuddin, “these people (Mehsud and his men) are working against Islam.”

Up to this point it has been assumed Mehsud was in alliance with al-Qaeda to destablize Pakistan, but if what the former Mr. Zainuddin claims is correct, al-Qaeda is really an organization created by Mossad and the CIA to attack Americans and the Pakistan government in order to create chaos. OK, this sounds as reasonable as Republican plans to deal with the recession by cutting taxes, but is there some madness to the madness?

We will be glad to send a scorecard as to who is with whom in Pakistan for the low price of $1 million. Who knows, maybe I am working for the CIA and Mossad without realizing it!

Taliban militants declared a case-fire Wednesday in fighting with Pakistan forces and he government said it was preparing fo peace talks with al-Qaida-linked extremists in the lawless tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan. A spokesperson for the Taliban siad the truce would include not only the tribal belt near the Afghan border, but the restive Swat region to the east. Maulvi Mohammed Umar, said: “The declaration of war we made against security forces was on orders of Baitullah Mehsud. We now withdraw that for an indefinite period.”

Interior Minister Athar Abbas said the government would soon form a jirga or tribal council of influential figures, “for a dialogue with the militants.” Ismail Khan, a journalist on the scene, questions the decision for a cease-fire. “Why did the governmen launch the military operation and then abandon it half way through without achieving its objective? It boggles the mind.” It appears militants have suffered large casualties during the Pakistan army attacks and most probably wanted a cease fire in order to regroup.

From all descriptions, Baitullah Mehsud is a crafty tyrant who intends to extend Talibn power throughout the region. Why the cease-fire except for the reality of being pounded by the Pakistan military and needing time to regroup and reorganize?

A new generation of Taliban fighters has taken over in Pakistan’s tribal regions near the Afghan border. Their leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is believed to be the master mind behind the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. If a subordinate disobeys him, Mehsud, gives him some money, sends him home with needle and thread and tells him to sew his own shroud within 24 hours– before time elapses, the man is dead. No known photos of the phantom leader are available and he shuns visitors. An ally of al-Qaeda, he has transformed the remote valleys of South Wazirstan into safe havens for terrorists.

Toward the end of last year, a council of high-ranking Taliban leaders appointed Mehsud the leader of the newly formed “Tehrik-Taliban Pakistan.” The new leader is not a person who is versed in religion, war is his speciality. His aliance is creating anger among the more conservative tribal chieftains who are more concerned over their own feudal areas and are much more religious minded.

Ironically, American bombing drove the Taliban into Pakistan where they found a new refuge. Turning away from creating a safe Afghanistan in order to delve into the madness of war in Iraq enabled the Taliban, not merely to regroup inside Afghanistan, but to establish safe bases in Pakistan and now turn that nation into a war zone. As one reviews what has transpired over the past six years, it is clear Bush policies in Afghanistan and the Middle East have proved to be the greatest recruiting drives for terrorism in modern history.